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Koivu leads Wild past Canucks in offensive affair

Feb 15, 2008 - 7:31 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- Mikko Koivu put the finishing touches on an uncharacteristic victory for the Minnesota Wild.

Koivu scored the decisive goal in the shootout and Stephane Veilleux tallied twice in regulation as the Wild skated to a 5-4 triumph Thursday over the Vancouver Canucks.

Defenseman Kurtis Foster and All-Star Marian Gaborik also scored for defensive-minded Minnesota, which improved to 24-0-1 when leading after two periods.

"Usually there's maybe just one or two goals each game," Veilleux said of his team's offensive outburst. "We created some offense and they played a good game, too, so it was a good hockey game, and we're pretty happy we pulled it off."

"We got lucky on a couple of goals, and that's why you get five and four goals," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire added. "Sometimes the goalies will make the great saves, other nights they're not as sharp and the puck goes in. There's a lot of chances in a game, and goalies today, they've got to be great. I'm not surprised that there were five goals scored."

Blue-liner Alex Edler had two goals and an assist and Brad Isbister and Ryan Kesler each added a tally for the Canucks, who fell to 2-3-3 in their last eight games.

After a scoreless first round of the shootout, Ryan Shannon failed to beat goaltender Niklas Backstrom. But defenseman Brent Burns came through for the Wild, making a deke that had goalie Roberto Luongo leaning to his right before slipping the puck into a vacant right side of the net.

Trevor Linden kept alive Vancouver's hopes with a wrist shot that beat Backstrom high to the glove side. But the speedy Koivu raced down the slot and used a nifty deke before burying a backhander to give Minnesota the win.

"I kind of want to keep it as a secret, but I try to make my decision before I go out there," Koivu said of his shootout move. "I was the third shooter, so I could see a little bit when Gabby and Burnsie went before me, so that helped a bit."

"It was really good to come back and get two points," said Backstrom, whose team went 2-1-0 on its three-game road trip. "We had a really good road trip and now we can head home with a good feeling."

Veilleux opened the scoring with 6:14 remaining in the first period. Faking a slap shot at the top of the slot, Veilleux glided toward the net before deking around Luongo and sliding a backhander into the vacant net for a 1-0 lead.

"It doesn't happen too often. I usually score with rebounds," Veilleux said. "It's always good for your confidence to get a goal like that."

The goal ended a 33-game drought for Veilleux, who doubled Minnesota's advantage at 12:45 of the second session.

From just above the end line along the right wing boards, Branko Radivojevic fired the puck to the front of the net, where it deflected off Veilleux, the left goalpost and the back of Luongo's right leg before going in, capping the Quebec native's first career two-goal performance.

"Stephane Veilleux did really well," Lemaire said. "You know when you get your checking line to get a couple of goals, definitely it's going to help your team. They were a big part of this win."

Vancouver answered on a similar play, as Alex Burrows put a backhander from the bottom of the right faceoff circle off Isbister's shin and past Backstrom with 4:23 to go.

Kesler forged a 2-2 tie exactly two minutes into a wild third period, converting a cross-slot pass from Shannon for a power-play goal.

Just 16 seconds later, Edler gave the Canucks their first lead of the night as he picked up a loose puck at the right point, skated to the middle of the ice and unleashed a slap shot that glanced off Backstrom's glove and into the net for his fourth of the season.

Foster drew Minnesota even at 9:56 with a one-timer from the left point, and Gaborik gave the Wild a 4-3 edge less than three minutes later, when he made a nifty move to get to the slot before beating Luongo for his 30th goal.

"Marian's got that great instinct of a goal-scorer," Veilleux said. "Obviously, you'll learn stuff in practice watching the kinds of moves he does and how quick he is. He's really been good for us."

But Edler capped his multi-goal game with 2:44 left in regulation to knot the contest at 4-4. All-Star Henrik Sedin won an offensive-zone faceoff in the left circle and the puck went to the Swede, who wristed it past Backstrom from the inner edge.

"I was trying to shoot and hit the net, and two of them went in," Edler said. "It's good that I can help the team."

"I felt our guys battled really hard," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "We were down by two, and we were down by one with not a lot of time left in the third, and we found a way to tie the game up."

Despite earning a point, Vancouver fell six behind Minnesota for first place in the Northwest Division.

"We know that we need to win," Canucks captain Markus Naslund said. "That's the only thing that matters. It doesn't matter how we pull it off, but we need to start winning games and getting points here. I've said all the time, but I think we can pull it off. I think we have the group that can get it done."